There are countless toys on the market that claim to facilitate learning but really have little educationalvalue.

LittleBits has established itself as a leader in creating easy-to-use electronic blocks that teach children of allages STEAM principles.

I was impressed with how quickly the Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit engaged my 15-year-oldand 4-year-old sons and kept them entertained while really learning.

Compared to toys you might find lining the aisles of big-box stores, the Droid Inventor Kit is abit expensive ( currently $68.73 on Amazon), but it's essentially several toys in one as itprovides dozens of novel "missions" to hold your kids' interest.

Summer is when kids are supposed to laze around the house and let their brains rot, right? Think again. A University of Missouri, Columbia meta-analysis of several studies suggests that students lose about a month's worth of school learning during the summer, math declines are sharper than reading, and higher grade levels have steeper losses.

I was well-aware of this research when littleBits contacted me to see if I would like to test out their Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit. I figured it would be an excellent way to pull my 15-year-old, Jerome, away from Borderlands for a few hours to spend some quality time with his 4-year-old brother, Bucky. It proved to work like a charm.

My first experiences with the littleBits Droid Kit

I was unfamiliar with littleBits prior to receiving this kit, but Jerome, who has participated in several robotics classes, after-school clubs, and camps, immediately perked up. He had used littleBits robots in a Lego robotics camp a couple summers ago.

LittleBits was founded in 2011 by Ayah Bdeir. She started the company with the goal of nurturing learning in the STEAM disciplines: science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. Additionally, littleBits seeks to bridge the gender gap often found in these studies by keeping their platforms gender neutral.

Amazon

How the littleBits Droid Kit performed

For the most part, I took a hands-off approach to testing out the Star Wars Droid Kit. I was simply an observer as my sons played together, a far too infrequent occurrence due to their 11-year age difference.

Once I told Jerome what was in the plain brown boxes (we received a droid for each boy), he showed immediate interest and tore them open. When Jerome first laid eyes on the robot, he had a big sheepish grin. This was great since he'd pretty much lived on his PlayStation 3 since school let out weeks ago. With Bucky "helping," Jerome had the droid — modeled after R2D2 — up and running within 20 minutes of opening the box. The boys then continued to play together for a while.

All of the functionality of the droid — from putting it together to running the dozens of missions — rely on using the Droid Inventor app. Currently, compatible devices are the iPhone with iOS 10.0 or later and Android with KitKat 4.4 or later with Bluetooth 4.0 or later and an accelerometer. It does not work on Amazon devices yet. We have Android devices.

The missions range from simply assembling the droid to programming with custom code. Each mission has step-by-step instructions. Many of the steps have short videos that show kids exactly what to do. Ikea could take some cues from the Droid Inventor app!

Jerome and Bucky have had their droids for a couple of weeks. As with most toys, they were initially gung-ho with the robots playing with them intermittently for the first day or two. Then, they sat idle. However, they have come back to the droids here and there. They still have not made their way through all of the missions.

They enjoy the Draw Mode mission, which involves attaching a marker to the robot using the provided marker holder. You set out paper and control what the droid draws using the app's joystick. Other missions include Obstacle Course, Secret Message, Self-Navigation, Force Mode, and body, droid, and head customization.

The only mission the boys have had trouble with is the Intruder Alarm. This mission involves disassembling the droid and reassembling it so that there's a sensor in the front that senses when objects pass by it. This triggers an alarm of R2D2 noises. The boys were able to get it working initially, but then it stopped, and we weren't able to figure out how to get it functioning again.

I really like that this is a toy that they both can keep revisiting to try out new missions and to create some of their own.

The corny saying "The only limit is your imagination" really does seem to apply here.

Some concerns about the droid kit

Overall, I am very pleased with the Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit, but it's important to address the negatives of any products. There were just a few minor ones. First, you need to have the Droid Inventor app in order to do just about anything with the kit. This can be annoying if your youngster must rely on your phone to operate their robot, and well, you need it for other things.

One of the few aspects of the droid-building process that I directly involved myself in is adding the decals. Jerome had no interest in the aesthetics of the droid. Bucky wanted it to look like R2D2 so Dad was in charge of adding the decals. This was not an easy process. I don't blame Jerome for passing on it. On the plus side, there are a few sets of decals so you can customize the droid to look however you want. And, you can switch out the reusable decals.

Also, I want to point out that this kit is intended for kids ages 8 and older. Bucky at 4 isn't able to do much except drive the droid around. He also tended to carry the droid around and drop it on our hardwood floor, which causes parts to fall off (but fortunately not bust).

Bottom line

Overall, whether you are looking for a way to keep your kids engaged during the summer or are an educator and want to get students interested in engineering and other STEAM disciplines, this kit does an excellent job of teaching children a variety of skills.

The littleBits Star Wars Droid Inventor Kit will only cost you about $69.

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